Would Jesus really support George Bush?

CrossWalkAmerica: Are You Ready to March for a New Christianity?

On Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006, a group of people will begin in Phoenix a 2500 mile, 141 day, 5,000,000-step walk across America. Their destination is Washington, D.C., where a public celebration will be held on September 3, 2006. Their purpose is to arouse public consciousness to the misuse of Christianity in American life today. They are Christians who want to reclaim their faith from what they believe are the distortions of the 'Religious Right,' that so often appears to interpret Christianity in narrow, prejudiced and even hate-filled ways.

The organizers of this march are grieved that fundamentalism has become the dominant, sometimes the sole religious voice in the media. They seek to raise awareness to the fact that fundamentalists, in both Catholic and Protestant forms, do not by themselves define American Christianity. They are embarrassed by the present alliance of political conservatives with fundamentalist Christians, who seek to impose a sectarian and moralistic religious mentality upon our population. They are offended that negativity to homosexual persons and opposition to the century long quest by women for equality and the right to define their own life choices, are now in the public mind, the defining essence of their faith. This enterprise, known as CrossWalkAmerica, is the vehicle through which they seek to educate America.

(For the entire text of this message from Bishop John Shelby Spong, go here.)

Many Christians across the country, both fundamentalist and mainstream, are reacting to the right-wing arm of the Republican Party, including the White House and many members in Congress, which has co-opted Christian fundamentalism to advocate its neoconservative values. One of our friends, Linda Seger, a prolific writer, has a book entitled Jesus Rode a Donkey: Why Republicans Don't Have the Corner on Christ coming out in late July on just this topic.

But there are a number of groups and a growing library of books offering this same message. One recently released book is Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. Phillips, a former Republican and advisor to the Nixon administration, was interviewed by Kerri Miller on Minnesota Public Radio today (3/31/06). Another group that has been active in countering the "Christian fundamentalism as being the exclusive domain of the Republican right wing" message is Faithful America.

LP